YEAR: 1976

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: July

DATE: 7/15/1976

STATE: Wisconsin

COUNTY: Milwaukee County

NEAREST TOWN: Oak Creek

NEAREST ROAD: Fitzimmons Road

OBSERVED: Saw the report of wood knocking on Fitzsimmons Road in Oak Creek WI and wanted to comment that I experienced this in the very same area back in 1976 or so. I was with 3 friends parked at the cul de sac that used to be right off Fitz between the RR tracks and lake. The short stretch went north about 1/4 mile or less. There was one streetlight at the end of the road - nothing else. Back then, there were no walking paths - the area was more remote than today. It was late in the summer - well past dusk. Probably between 9 - 10pm. We were hanging out outside the vehicle. We hear a series of wood knocks in the distance - didn't give it much though. After several minutes, another series, only closer. Close enough it got our attention and we commented. A few more minutes and now a series of 2 or 3 knocks very loud and close. We bagged it into the truck and got out of there. If it was someone messing with us, I don't know where they could have come from or how they could move through the woods in total darkness.

OTHER WITNESSES: Yes, 2 others.

OTHER STORIES: Recent report filed in 2012.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 10 pm or so - dark night

ENVIRONMENT: Wooded area surrounded by farm fields. Lake MI to the east.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator B.G. Martin:

In the summer of 1976 or 77 between 10 and 11 o’clock the witness who was 17 or 18 years old and his two friends went to the location and parked their Chevy Cheyenne pickup. The vehicle was facing south. After being there 20 minutes they begin to casually throw rocks at the street light. Most of the rocks landed in the woods. The rocks they threw were potato size rocks and would make good size knocks when they would hit trees.

The witness and his friends heard 3 – 4 knocks 200 yards to the northeast. At that point the knocks were such a non-event that they didn’t say anything but looked at each other with quizzical looks and continued on. A few minutes later there were 3 – 4 knocks 100 yards away. They looked at each other and asked each other what is that?

Whatever was doing the knocking was moving in a southwesterly direction to their position. The 3 – 4 knock sets lasted 1.5 to 2 seconds. The witness said, “it sounded like wood hitting wood and that the wood was bare”, no bark. The knocks were loud and resonated like clunking two pieces of aged firewood together hard.

The last set of 3 – 4 knocks were 30 – 60 yards away from them. They looked at each other and just ran for the pickup. The witness said that they really didn’t want to wait and see what was going to come out of the woods, plus they were throwing rocks at the street light. He said they looked out the back window and nothing came out of the woods into the light of the street light.

The witness explained how you could tell that knocking sound was made by hitting two pieces of wood together or swinging a piece of wood against another. There isn’t an animal that can do that. He emphasized the unlikelihood that it was a person doing the knocking. The first set of knocks would have had to come from an area down an 80+ foot almost vertical bluff. He explained, it would be a feat to climb it during the day and impossible to climb in the dark.

Whatever it was didn’t make any noise moving through the woods with moderate thick understory. The witness explained that it would be strange for a person or persons to move through the woods and not make any noise or use any lights because the woods were so dark. They didn’t hear any talking or laughing.

They came in on the only road to the area and they didn’t see anyone or any vehicles. The area was scrub land and didn’t have anything that was developed and no reason any one would be lying in wait for some unsuspecting teenagers to scare.

The witness has 40+ years of hunting experience and has never heard anything like that in all of his years of hunting. To this day, he and his friends still reminisce about the night that they heard the knocks and ran out of fear of something that didn’t fit any reasonable explanation.

The location in the early 60s was a farm, by the 70s the property had been obtained by eminent domain and allowed to grow wild. From satellite images (1963) it appears the farm might have been an apple orchard and has been verified by one of the witnesses that in the 60’s it was a working apple farm.

The area then and now was allowed to revert to its natural state. In the 70s, Bender Park was just a foot path going down to the lake and not the developed boat landing that it is now. Even though the area is surrounded by sparsely developed neighborhoods there are corridors that something could use to make its way to the area unhindered or hampered.

There are two recent cases from far outer suburbs of Dallas and Atlanta that have had activity in areas more developed than in this case. One trait that shares commonality with all three instances is that there was a corridor of woods leading in and out of the area. Waterways can also be considered corridors that they would use too. The Dallas case is an on going area of research and can’t be disclosed. The Georgia incident can be viewed on Finding Bigfoot Episode 1, 'Bigfoot Crossing in Georgia' or on YouTube by using the search term: "Georgia police camera video"

About BFRO Investigator B.G. Martin:

Investigator Since 2006